This Carnival Is Home
by KandieFloss
Summary: Some of us will walked a lonely road, some of us already have. Some of us may never have to, and some will never wish to. But it doesn't mean we're always alone. For somewhere out there, is home. (AoKise)


Just to clarify:

"Hey," – speech

'_Hey' – _thoughts

"_Hey," – _speech in flashback

'_**Hey' – **_thoughts in flashback

'xXx' - scene change

_'xXx' _- scene change within flashback

**'xXx' **- start of flashback

xXx

Baka – idiot

Nii-chan – affectionate term for 'older brother'

Musuko-san – respectful way of saying 'son'

Oji-san – respectful way of saying 'old man' or 'uncle'

The chronological order of flashbacks – **(1), (6), (7), (5), (3), (4), (2**

xXx

**Inspirations (if you want to listen); **

**Norihiro Tsuru - Last Carnival (Acoustic Cafe)**

**Joe Hisaishi - Howl's Moving Castle**

**Gabrielle Aplin - Home**

xXx

An: Been a while really. A long, _long_ while. But any who! Sorry if the formatting is wrong or messed up, but I tried to make it as clear as possible. Also, any mistakes are because I have no beta, so yeah. Also, I have no idea how adoption actually works, so I used some of what I thought was appropriate and what I'd learnt from TV shows. Enjoy :D

xXx

**This Carnival Is Home**

xXx

The wind whistled gently as a crunching noise rippled through the calm air. The long path was littered with an array of autumn-coloured leaves, covering the ground like an exotic carpet. A sound of soft footfalls walked down the path, amber eyes glancing at the softly swaying trees, their leaves beginning to fall to the dry ground. The walking figure sighed wistfully, a wisp of cold air escaping cold lips after a breath out, the barest smile in place before rubbing a thick bracelet around his wrist, and twisting the silver band around his finger. The figure stopped for a moment, thoughts consuming. _'How are you now, __Daicchi? I miss you, you know. I wish you didn't have to enlist for the army, but I finally understand; you just want to protect your family. Us...'_ The figure shook his head to stop his steadily gloomy thoughts, blonde hair flying in directions. Instead, he focused on old promises made as he began to walk to his destination.

**xXx (1)**

_"Aominecchi! I give, I give!" A loud high-pitched squeal sounded from the mouth of a 10 year old blonde boy, currently on the ground and being mercilessly tickled by a navy-haired tanned boy of the same age. Both had messy clothes, covered in a few patches of mud smears after rolling all over the park grounds._

_"No way Kise-chan! That's what you get for abusing your powers of elderliness over me!" The navy-haired boy said mischievously, poking his tongue out._

_"It was only once, I swear! And besides, I am older than you!" The blonde whined breathlessly, the constant tickles having made him out of breath._

_"Yeah, but now I have to do the dishes 'cos of you. And you're only older by 2 months." The navyhead pouted, stopped his tickling and sat on top of the blonde's chest, staying silent for a moment. "Say, Kise-chan?" The navyhead said seriously, after a while._

_"Yeah?"_

_"Think we'll be friends forever?"_

_"Yeah, I bet we will!" The blonde said as the navyhead got off and helped him to sit up. "I know, why don't we make a pinkie promise to be best friends forever?" Both boys held out their little fingers and wrapped them around each other's._

_"Right, you say it Aominecchi."_

_"Okay! I, Aomine Daiki-"_

_"-and I, Kise Ryouta-"_

_"-promise to stay best friends forever, no matter what happens. We promise." Aomine gave a determined look as he said this in all seriousness._

_Kise nodded in agreement. "We promise." The blonde then looked around as the navyhead watched in confusion._

_"Kise-chan, what are you doing?" Aomine questioned._

_"Hold on... Wait... Okay!" Kise pulled a thin bracelet out of his pocket. It wasn't anything too fancy; just 2 plain entwinings of yellow and dark blue string with hooks to clip the ends together. "It's a present so we can be sure to keep our promise!" He took Aomine's wrist and clipped it into place, rolling it up the other's arm a bit as it was quite big. "There."_

_"Eh? Thanks Kise-chan, but I haven't got anything for you," Aomine said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head._

_Kise just smiled. "That's okay Aominecchi, just get me something tomorrow."_

_"Oh wait!" Aomine said suddenly. He rummaged in his pocket and pulled out something. "Here, you can have this." He placed it into Kise's hand, the blonde looking in confusion."What is it?" The blonde asked, picking it up with his finger and thumb. It was blue and looked like small ring, but there was a detached part of the thing given to him._

_"It's an earring that was kaa-san's, but she lost the other half. You know how you said that you wanted an ear piercing like those models you like? Well, you can wear this when you get one." Aomine grinned as Kise hugged him._

_"Thanks Aominecchi. I'll wear it as soon as kaa-san lets me have a piercing." The boys smiled at each other as they sat side by side on the grass._

_"Daiki-chan! Ryouta-chan! Time to go home!" A female voice cried out from afar._

_"That's your kaa-san, Aominecchi. Let's go!" Kise got up and dragged the other up as well before pulling them into a run._

_"Kise-chan! Slow down!"_

**xXx (2)**

_"Why are you doing this, Daiki?" Kise bit his lip, tears threatening to fall from his eyes. He had his arms wrapped around himself, insecurity seeping through._

_"Ryouta, please..." Aomine pleaded._

_Pleaded for his husband to understand._

_"No, I can't accept it! Why would want to leave us?! Are you not happy here, Daiki?" Kise asked, his heart aching at the thought that maybe, his husband wasn't happy after all._

_"No! No, Ryouta, of course I'm happy here with you. With them," Aomine said, stepping forward to comfort his husband, only for the other to step back._

_"Then why? Why would you enlist for the army? Are you so ready to get yourself killed?!" Kise nearly shrieked, trying so hard to understand Aomine's reasoning._

_"Ryouta, listen to me," Aomine said calmly, though he was hurting at the thought of Kise crying because of him. "I don't want to die, leaving you alone with our children. I don't want to leave you and I don't want to leave them. And I'm happy; with you, with them, with what we have. But Kise, we aren't safe." Aomine stepped forward again, only this time, Kise let his navyhead husband embrace him warmly and tightly. "Do you understand, Ryouta? We aren't safe, not until they finally stop trying to conquer our country. I don't want our boys raise in an environment where they fear for their lives. I want them to be free. Safe." Aomine combed his fingers through Kise's blonde hair. "I have to do this, Ryouta. Please..."_

_"...I know, Daicchi. But promise me something?"_

_"Anything."_

_"When it's all over, come home to us; to me."_

_"Of course I will, Ryouta. I promise."_

xXx

Kise tugged wistfully at the blue earring that was in his left ear and looked towards the sky as he walked down the long path, consumed by his thoughts. A quick flash across the side of his vision made him look to the left. _'I could have sworn I just saw a child running...'_ He shook his head. _'Whatever.'_ He walked on, pretending not to hear a soft noise of a child's laughter.

**xXx (3)**

_"Daikicchi?"_

_"Hmmm?"_

_"Do you like children?" Aomine lowered the basketball magazine in his hands and pulled down his feet from the table they were resting on, looking at his nervous, newly-married husband._

_"Well, I'm not really sure; I mean, you've seen what I'm like with them. Why?"_

_"Well..." Kise scratched his cheek nervously. "I was thinking that we should have one. Or more."_

_"Last I checked, we were both men," Aomine said, a teasing lilt in his voice._

_"Eeh? Not like that Daikicchi!" Kise whined, knowing that his husband was only joking. "I mean, adoption."_

_"Sure, why not?"_

_"R-really?" Kise couldn't believe his ears. This was coming from a man who hated the idea of children back in high school! Well, some people really did change. "You mean it?"_

_"Yeah. I mean, I have you to prevent me from becoming a crappy father."_

_"You won't be a crappy father," Kise said firmly._

_"And I guess I would like to have children to be proud of," Aomine admitted._

_"I think they'll be more proud of you being their father," the blonde said softly. "But thank you Daiki!" He jumped the man, making the other drop his magazine in an effort to catch the blonde._

_Aomine's heart jumped in bliss when his husband said his name. "You're welcome, Ryouta."_

xXx

Kise smiled fondly as he thought of his two adopted kids, Aomine Shintaro and Atsushi - formerly being Midorima and Murasakibara respectively. Both came from different families and had different personalities. Atsushi was more innocent and the childish one at the age of 13, forever following his smaller friend, Akashi Seijurou, and being coddled by his other friend, Himuro Tatsuya. Shintaro, being older by two years, looked after his younger brother, even though he had his own best friend, Takao Kazunari, and the other was taller than him now - truthfully, Kise found it quite the adorable thing, seeing as Atsushi used to be so small, but he did miss his son's cute pint-size height at times.

However, as he remembered his younger son's pouting face and his moodier brother's frown when he said he was going somewhere without them (even though they did have school; he couldn't take them with him anyway), he agreed with his previous decision that it was better he went alone today before bringing them with him first. Seeing as it had been years since he last seen this place, he figured it was best he saw its state before bringing his children over. His mind wandered back to when he first met his two children with Aomine.

**xXx (4)**

_Scrabbles of feet thumped on the floorboards as Aomine and Kise were led by a social worker and caretaker of the orphanage. Aomine grimaced as he nearly ran smack bang into a fast-paced child._

_"Sorry mister!" The child shouted as he ran off again. Aomine nudged Kise gently as the social worker and caretaker were talking._

_"I'm not so sure this was a good idea," Aomine said quietly._

_Kise sighed dejectedly. "Do you not want this Daikicchi? I mean, I know I want it, but if you really don't, then I guess that's okay-"_

_"I didn't mean it like that, Ryouta. I meant me coming today," Aomine said, placing a kiss on his husband's cheek. "I'm not exactly the friendliest-looking potential dad."_

_Kise's gaze turned comforting. "Don't worry, Daikicchi. Just show them the side you show me."_

_"Alright." Aomine smiled in agreement as they were finally led into the office and sat down, the caretaker leaving to prepare the children._

_The social worker sat in front of them and laid out a few papers for the two to sign and began to speak. "You've pretty much got all the papers ready and sorted. Of course, now it will be time to pick the child of your choice."_

_"Sorry, but um, what happens if we decided to adopt two?" Kise asked. Aomine wasn't surprised, seeing as how they had discussed beforehand that they may end up choosing a child with a sibling, so what would they do? Well, really, they couldn't separate them, so the only choice would be to adopt them both._

_"Well, we'll have to see which two you have picked and if it is appropriate to let you adopted them. In some cases, we have let couples adopt two children, siblings or not, although it's harder when they aren't siblings. Seeing as you two have enough finances to support two children and have no history of any child abuse, criminal offences or anything else of that kind, we can push the paperwork forward so that you can adopt two." Kise and Aomine both nodded at this information. "However, there will be a trial period for you two once you have chosen the child or children you want to adopt. This happens regardless of how many times the couple or person has adopted. Unfortunately, this spans over 9 months, with me or a co-worker checking every few weeks. With two children however, it will be the same time span, seeing as they will both stay at same time. Are you both prepared to do this?" The social worker asked._

_"Of course." Kise spoke as Aomine nodded._

_"Okay, that's good." The social worker smiled. "Well, do feel free to take a look at the children. Haruhi-san will be there in case you get lost. Come back here when you've made your choice."_

_Kise and Aomine thanked the social worker and exited the office. As soon as the door closed, Aomine sighed. "So, together or not?"_

_"Hm, better together," Kise said. "That way we don't intentionally pick two children. But if we do, that's okay, right?"_

_"Yeah." Aomine said, looking around at the now calm children in the various rooms. "So, where to?"_

_Kise and Aomine entered various rooms, each with delightful and mischievous children. Kise found himself constantly liking the children that he saw, but none especially caught his heart. The same could be said of Aomine, to a lesser extent. He found himself opening up to these children, but none caught his eye._

_After a while, Aomine made his way to the toilet, telling Kise to play with the children whilst he went. He quickly did his business and made his way back to his husband when he felt a tug on his jeans._

_He looked down to see a tiny purple-haired boy holding his hand out with Aomine's keys in it. "You drop." A small voice came from the boy, his eyes blinking cutely._

_"Thanks kid." Aomine said. The boy blushed and nodded his head. The man bent down to the boy's height. "What's your name, squirt?" Aomine surprised himself by actually talking to the child without Kise's help._

_"A'sushi."_

_"Hi, Atsushi. I'm Daiki. How old are you, kid?"_

_"Haruhi-san says 'm 3." Atsushi stuck his thumb in his mouth. He glanced around suddenly, looking distressed._

_Aomine noticed and put a comforting hand on the boy's shoulder. "Are you okay, Atsushi?"_

_"I can' find Taro-chin!"_

_"Who's Taro-chin, squirt?"_

_"My nii-chan. He look after me. But he not here! He say he always wit' me!" Purple eyes began to water._

_"Shhhh." Aomine gently pulled the boy into a hug, which the boy quickly embraced and sobbed on his shoulder. Aomine stood up slowly with the child still in his arms. "I'll help you find your nii-chan, okay, Atsushi?"_

_"Tank'ou," Atsushi said, calming down with tiny hiccups. His innocent eyes bore into Aomine's, making his heart soar in protectiveness and love._

_"It's okay, squirt." Aomine knew from the moment the petite boy gazed at him in adoration, he wanted to adopt the adorable child._

_xXx_

_While Aomine was gone, Kise was still surrounded by lots of the children, all of which were trying to look at his hair, wondering how it could be so soft and bright. Kise smiled at the awe in their faces, sad that his decision was being made so difficult by all these wonderful children. As the children played with his hair, he saw a little boy with green hair and glasses, wearing a big tie over his clothes, wondering around the room before leaving again, a cute frown on his face._

_"Kids! It's lunch time!" Haruhi-san came into the room, a tray of food in her hands. The children roared in delight as they all piled into the lunch hall, eager to get the first plate. Kise smiled again at their excitement, though glad to have some head space. Haruhi-san turned to Kise. "Ah, Kise-san, if you like, you can join the kids in the hall to eat lunch."_

_Kise nodded. "Thank you, Haruhi-san. I'd like to wait for my husband though, before joining them." He watched at the green-haired boy came in again, his blue tie dangling oddly around his neck, too big for the small boy._

_Haruhi-san turned to where he was looking, a knowing smile passing on her face. "Well, I'll leave you and your husband's lunch here if you change your mind." She turned to the boy and got his attention. "Shintaro-kun, go and eat now, honey."_

_The boy called Shintaro gave a stubborn pout. "No thank you, Haruhi-san. I need to find Atsushi first."_

_Haruhi-san sighed in understanding. "Very well, Shintaro, but don't take too long. You know Atsushi will come running when he finds out it's lunch time." Shintaro nodded politely, before leaving the room again._

_After leaving and entering the room twice, Kise decided to help the poor child. "Um, Shintaro-kun?"_

_Shintaro turned to Kise with a curious look in his eyes. "Hai, oji-san?" Kise nearly face-palmed at the boy's politeness. He didn't look that old, did he?_

_"Just call me Kise-san, Shintaro-kun," Kise offered. "Do you need help finding your friend?"_

_Shintaro's facial expressions changed as he debated internally. "Yes please," he finally said, stepping closer to Kise, much to the blonde's relief. "Atsushi's my brother; he needs me to find him, nanodayo!" He started to panic, making Kise pull the little boy into a hug._

_"Don't worry, Shintaro-kun. I'll help you find your brother. There are only so many rooms in this place that he could have disappeared to, right?" Shintaro only clung harder to the blonde, making Kise feel a warmth in his chest, a need to comfort this child in any way he could. "Now, where did you last see him?"_

_"Near the corridor area, next to the main entrance; the big green door where all the new parents go through, not the garden one, nanodayo," Shintaro said, giving an accurate description, surprising Kise._

_"Shintaro-kun, how old are you?"_

_"I'm 5, nanodayo," Shintaro said factually. Kise nearly laughed as he finally picked up the boy's little tag at the ends of his sentences._

_**'How cute,'**__ Kise thought. "You are smart for a 5 year old," Kise said, grinning at the greenhead._

_"Thank you, Kise-san," Shintaro, a small blush on his cheeks at the compliment._

_"So, what does Atsushi look like, Shintaro-kun. Maybe I can find him for you," Kise said. "Does he look like you? Green hair, green eyes?"_

_Shintaro shifted slightly. "Ah well, he's not really my brother. But he's like my little brother; we're always together and I look after him, nanodayo."_

_"Ah, okay," Kise nodded in acknowledgement. "So then, what does he look like?"_

_"He has purple hair and eyes. He's 3 years old and he's really small; that's why I can't leave him alone, because he gets scare if I'm not with him. The place is too big, nanodayo," Shintaro explained. "He must be scared now," the boy said sadly. His stomach suddenly growled, loudly showing how hungry he was._

_"Shintaro-kun, Atsushi will be fine, I promise. Now, I want you to eat a little something before we look for your brother, okay?" Kise saw Shintaro about to protest, but the blonde quickly spoke. "Shintaro-kun, if you don't eat, how will you find the strength to look for Atsushi?"_

_"With my lucky item!" Shintaro said determinedly, waving his massive blue tie around his neck. Kise wanted to laugh again, wondering how the boy could look so ridiculous yet so adorable at the same time, but composed himself with a stern look. Seeing Kise's expression, he pouted. "Okay, Kise-san. Only something quick, so we can find Atsushi." Kise ruffled the boy's hair in approval._

_As Shintaro ate the food given to him, he smiled at Kise, making the blonde melt inside. "Thank you, Kise-san."_

_**'Aw man, I fell hard,'** Kise moaned internally, but smiled as the green-haired boy ate contently, for that moment. **'At least the choice isn't so hard anymore.'**_

_xXx_

_Aomine walked around to find his husband being pulled to the doorway by Shintaro, who still looked worried. "Hey Ryouta, have you seen-"_

_"Taro-chin!" Atsushi cried out from Aomine's hold. The green-haired boy looked up from where he was._

_"Atsushi!" Aomine put the 3 year old down as the green-haired boy ran over and hugged the boy. "Don't do that, Shi-chan, you get me worried nanodayo!"_

_"I jus' help Dai-chin an' he drop his keys!"_

_As the two boys talked, Kise came over to Aomine's side. "I want to adopt Atsushi," Aomine said quietly. Kise smiled knowingly._

_"I had a feeling you did, seeing as you were holding a seriously sweet kid you'd only known for about 20 minutes. For the record, I want to adopt Shintaro."_

_"Taro-chin?" Aomine watched the two boys interact; Shintaro had Atsushi currently napping with the younger boy's head in his lap as he combed his finger through purple hair._

_"Yeah. He's a cute, smart kid, and something in me just felt drawn to him. I figured that's what happened with you and Atsushi, then?" Aomine nodded. "Although, it'll be hard as they aren't brothers."_

_"Huh? The squirt said they were."_

_"So did Shintaro, but that they weren't biological brothers. I guess they consider each other brothers in all but blood."_

_"Do want both of them, Ryouta?" Aomine asked, but already knowing the answer._

_"I... Yeah, I think I do. What do you think?"_

_"I think I agree with you."_

_Kise smiled as Shintaro waved him and his husband over to introduce his little brother._

_**'I think I made the right choice.'**  
_  
xXx

Kise looked cheerful as he thought back to the ups and downs of looking after his two kids with Aomine. Both had problems from their previous homes, and it took a while for them to settle in. Over the years, Atsushi eventually grew even taller than his older brother, much to Shintaro's annoyance, although his ever cute personality stayed the same. Even now, Atsushi's puppy face would convince Kise of anything, regardless of how hard he would try not to give in. With thought, Kise giggled, remembering his youngest son's face as he left early this morning.

Finally, after a long walk, he stretched his arms as he reached his destination.

**xXx (5)**

_"Come on Aominecchi!" Kise pulled the taller towards the lively music filling the air._

_"I don't like carnivals, remember?" Aomine growled, but stopped resisting._

_"I know, but you said we could go anywhere." Kise pouted. "Besides you came and watched the performance with me just now, didn't you? And you enjoyed that," Kise pointed out._

_Aomine sighed. "Fine."_

_Kise whooped as he dragged the navyhead along to one of the stalls. As they walked towards it, the blonde swayed his head gently to the music playing. "I like this music Aominecchi. It's like... the perfect theme tune for this place, yet like a waltz. Say, wanna dance, Aominecchi?"_

_"What? Here? No!" Aomine protested. Even though they were dating, didn't mean he liked public affection. That included dancing. "Besides, where would I put the rose?" Aomine asked, holding the rose Kise had given him._

_"No, not here, Aominecchi. Somewhere without lots of people, baka." Kise smiled and took the rose, placing it in Aomine's breast pocket with the flower sticking out. "There. And besides, you promised me you would one day. I think today is that day."_

_Aomine looked at his boyfriend's longing eyes, and his hard gaze softened. He just couldn't deny this person anything._

_"Alright. But somewhere no one can see, got it?"_

_"Of course, Aominecchi." Kise led Aomine to a garden connected to the carnival. Fortunately, there was no one there, seeing as the carnival was at full swing. "Alright, Aominecchi. Put your right hand on my waist, and take my other hand with your left." Aomine did as he was told, leaving Kise to put his left hand on Aomine's shoulder. "Okay, just relax and follow me, Aominecchi." Aomine took a deep breath and followed as Kise moved back and forth in a pattern. Aomine slowly caught on and after a while began to lead instead of his boyfriend._

_Right 2 3, forward 2 3, left 2 3, back 2 3, turn 2 3 and repeat._

_Soon their dancing led to complicated twists and turns, leaving Kise breathless with happiness and Aomine basking in Kise's beauty. As the music began to slow down, Kise laid his head on Aomine's shoulder as they just danced in a circle. "Daiki... I love you..." Kise whispered softly. Aomine's heart thumped loudly as Kise confessed for the first time. The navyhead let go as they stopped dancing and cupped Kise's face with his hands, kissing the other._

_"I love you too, Ryouta," the navy-haired man said against the blonde's lips. "And I always will."_

xXx

Kise walked through the once colourful carnival that was now left in rubble and old rides which didn't work. A few years before, the area had been hit with a strong storm, destroying the rides and some of the small buildings in the process. He heard that the carnival owners decided to move, leaving everything there as they couldn't pay for the repairs or removal.

Walking around, Kise decided he could take his children with him next time, as the place was just as beautiful as when he first went to it, even though its beauty was much more different than before; although the rides were wrecked, the decorations and designs were as prominent as ever, reminding Kise of the thrill and almost magical feelings of being in the carnival.

Being there brought back a memory of when Kise and Aomine had finally gotten together, although their feelings had only just begun to surface.

**xXx (6)**

_"Kise-kuuuun~!"_

_"Ahhhh, Kise-san is so pretty!"_

_"Kawaii Kise-kun!"_

_Inwardly, Kise sighed as a massive crowd of girls gathered around him, trying to get his autograph or something like that. He smiled; a less happy one, but a genuine one nonetheless. Really, he loved the attention, but it became quickly tedious when he couldn't even reach his best friend._

_Speaking of his best friend, the blonde noticed the navyhead speaking to another girl with humungous breasts. Okay, maybe a bit of an exaggeration, but they were huge._

_The blonde noticed that the navyhead didn't really hang out with him as much as soon as they started senior year. Sometimes the blonde questioned the other's friendship with the other, but soon squashed the thoughts every time he saw the bracelet that Kise had given him as a child. Still, it struck a sharp chord in Kise's chest when he saw others around the navyhead, but he ignored it in favour of doing his modelling job right._

_However, after seeing Aomine kiss another girl behind the science building one day and nearly bringing him to tears because of it, Kise was forced to confront his feelings._

_Unfortunately for him, it turned out to be one of the worst feelings he could have for a friend; love. Or at least, going in that direction._

_Of course, this led to Kise avoiding Aomine for a few days until the navyhead had enough and stopped the blonde from ignoring him. It became awkward after that, well on Kise's part; Aomine acted just the same. But for Kise, he didn't like hiding things from the navyhead, even something as fickle as feelings. Which is why he was preparing himself to confess. Very soon. Hopefully. Maybe._

_xXx_

_"Aominecchi?"_

_Aomine opened his eyes briefly when he heard the door of the deserted rooftop landing open, before closing them again. "Yeah Kise? How'd you know I was in here?" He heard the door close gently and soft footsteps come closer to his person._

_"I knew you would skip class because it's one of your least favourite subjects and it's the last lesson of the day. Also, you usually come here anyway. You get to have a nice view, fresh air and a good sleep," Kise teased lightly. Suddenly he sighed, in what almost sounded like sadness, making Aomine feel concerned._

_"Are you okay?" Aomine opened his eyes and sat up to look at the blonde._

_"Honestly, no. I need to ask you something first."_

_"Go ahead."_

_"Why did you stop me from ignoring you?" Kise looked at Aomine, who looked at the blonde._

_"Because you're my best friend," Aomine said simply._

_"But why?" Kise asked again. "We haven't exactly been around each other or anything recently."_

_"Because you started ignoring me," Aomine pointed out, getting a little annoyed._

_"I had a good reason for ignoring you."_

_"What reason could you possibly have for ignoring your best friend?!" Aomine shouted, making Kise flinch, before glaring at Aomine._

_"Because you kissed a girl behind the science building!" Kise blurted out in his annoyance. That was not how he wanted to confess!_

_When a silence passed between the two, Kise struggled to correct himself. "I-I mean-"_

_"So you ignored me because you were jealous of me." Aomine said, more like a statement rather than a question. "What, did you like her or something?" Aomine felt a small bit of hurt saying that, although he didn't know why._

_"What? No, I wasn't jealous of you." Kise closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "I was jealous... of her. Because you kissed her. Not... me." Kise's voice faded into a small whisper by the end, but it was loud enough to be heard in the expanse of the rooftop._

_xXx_

_Aomine's head reeled with the new information. Kise liked him? Not some fangirl or a little, bubbly girl. Him? "I-I wha- y-you- me- huh?"_

_"Please, don't hate me."_

_Kise's small plea broke Aomine out of his confusion, making him look at his best friend, and now, not-so-secret admirer. His heart sank at how miserable the blonde looked; as though he thought Aomine would hit him for confessing something like that._

_"Kise-"_

_"Please, Aominecchi, I know you don't like me that way and if you don't feel we can be friends again, I understand. But please, don't hate me."_

_Aomine crawled over to where Kise was sitting as wrapped his arms around the blonde, startling the other. "Kise. I don't hate you." At those words, a small sound came from Kise's mouth as he buried his face in navyhead's shoulder. Only when his shoulder began to feel wet, did Aomine realise that the blonde was crying._

_"Aominecchi-"_

_"Hold on Kise, just listen for a moment." Hearing nothing from the blonde, Aomine spoke again. "I don't hate you, Kise. I couldn't. You're my best friend." He felt the blonde smile softly at that. "But... I don't know what you want me to do, Kise. I've never thought about our relationship in that way before." Feeling Kise about to protest, he continued. "But, I'm willing to try. Because you're my best friend, I care a lot for you. And, if I'm really honest with myself, the idea of kissing you isn't bad at all." Realising what he was saying, he hastily added, "If that's okay with you."_

_Kise looked up at Aomine. "Of course it is. But if it goes wrong, promise we'll always be friends, okay?"_

_Aomine sighed in relief. "I should be asking you that. After all, if it goes wrong, you're gonna get more hurt than me. But yeah, I promise."_

_"Even if it all goes wrong, I still want my best friend, no matter what," Kise said, gripping Aomine's hand. The navyhead smiled and held onto Kise's hand as a sign of agreement, and relishing in the beauty of the sky above the two. After the small pause, Kise spoke again. "Aominecchi, I want to kiss you."_

_"...Okay."_

_"Are you sure?" Kise inched closer to Aomine's face, their noses almost touching._

_"Yes," Aomine whispered, feeling Kise's hot breath fanning over his lips._

_With that, Kise leaned in and joined their lips together as the wind gently breezed past them, almost whispering their approval of this new couple._

xXx

Kise twisted his head round when he heard a noise. Looking around, his eyes finally settled on two elderly men embracing. Kise walked over to them, intending to ask them if they knew of this old carnival. Seeing him approach them, the two figures smiled at each other.

"Hello, oji-san. I was wondering, do you use to know this old carnival?" Kise asked both men. "I was just wondering, since there'd be no other reason as to why you're here."

The smaller, light blue-haired man answered. "Yes, musuko-san. In fact, we used to own it." The taller, redheaded man grin at him, his smile reflecting wilder times of the past.

Kise's eyes widened. "Really? You and..." He gestured to the redhead.

"Hai. Me and my husband over here, owned this carnival for almost 15 years. Until it got destroyed by the storm." The man saddened, but only slightly. "Well, it was reaching it's time anyway." The man's eyes gazed at Kise. "I'm Kagami Tetsuya, but you can call me Kuroko. And this is Kagami Taiga, my husband."

"Nice to meet you, Kuroko-san, Kagami-san. I'm Aomine Ryouta. But everyone still calls me by my old surname, Kise."

"Nice to meet you too, Kise-san." Kuroko-san greeted. "Did you use to come to this carnival, Kise-san?"

"Hai. Actually, it was here where my husband and I had our first official date as teenagers." Kise looked at the couple once more, examining their faces. Light blue hair, two-toned red hair... "Actually, I think I remember seeing you there before, oji-san." Kise squinted, his memory steadily coming to pieces. "Were you that amazing duo act, Hikari and Kage?"

**xXx (7)**

_"Kise! Where are we going?" Aomine said, half shouting, half exasperated. Kise was dragging him towards a crowded area at a fast pace, almost dislocating his wrist._

_"To see that duo act that everyone's been talking about!" Kise said excitedly. Aomine huffed but followed regardless, curiosity getting the better of him._

_"And now, for our most astounding acrobatic act, Hikari and Kage!" The announcer shouted over the noise of the crowd, as the show reached its final performance. The cheering got louder as the two men appeared onstage, the crowd arranged like in a circus, with the people facing the middle area. Kise cheered along with the crowd, and although Aomine didn't join along, he had a relaxed smile on his face, showing his enjoyment._

_They both wore masks; the tall redhead wearing a tiger mask, while the shorter bluehead wore a white dog mask. Both donned plain, skin-tight vests with flexible trousers; the one with the tiger mask wearing it all white, while other was in black._

_As their act started, Kise gasped in awe, along with the rest of the crowd, as the white dog masked man disappeared from sight, only to appear again as the tiger masked man picked him up from behind a prop, throwing the shorter from one end of the stage, only for the man to land gracefully as a swan, as though he had flown through the air._

_They performed a great deal of skilled tricks, ranging from one balancing on the other on a tall, thin ladder, to throwing flaming sticks at each other in such a way that the sticks landed to form a fiery message on the open wall in the middle of the round stage. The redhead even showed off his own skills, jumping high enough, with his partner, for him to toss the smaller one up so that he could grab the swinging bars hanging from the ceiling. Then he joined him on the other swinging bar, performed new skills in the air._

_The sight was so mesmerising that Kise had no words to describe the fluidity of the whole performance, only that he wished he were that flexible and that amazing to attract so many looks of incredulity from so many people._

_Just before they ended, the white dog masked man disappeared again, making Kise gasp as it happened so quickly. He looked around, just like the crowd, and he could have sworn that the other man onstage was smirking under his tiger mask as the crowd murmured, wondering where the other man disappeared to._

_Suddenly he felt a warm hand on his shoulder, making him turn to see the white dog masked man in front of him, a red rose in his hand. Shock turning to happiness, he accepted the rose from the other, before a rope dropped in front of him and the man. The masked man grabbed the rope, letting him perform a couple more air acrobatics, before settling on stage again, ending the performance with a smooth finish._

_Kise and Aomine clapped and cheered along with the rest of the crowd, the navyhead smiling as Kise took his hand in his, and gave him the red rose as a gift for the great night that he had._

xXx

"Hmm, yes, I do remember that night as well, actually," Kuroko-san said. "It was the night Taiga told me he wanted to adopt a child with me after so long. It was also the night I gave a sweet-looking blonde a rose, his navyhead boyfriend giving me a jealous look." The elder man laughed as Kise stared in disbelief.

"Really? He was jealous? And how could you possibly remember that..?" Kise wondered how good these man's memory was; it was years ago since his and Aomine's first date had happened.

"Hell yeah, he was smitten." Kagami-san finally spoke, his gruff voice resounding. "Made me want to laugh, but I had to keep up appearances whilst performing. And why we remember? You reminded us of ourselves as teenagers; young and in love with each other." Kagami-san smiled fondly at his husband.

"I... I didn't know that," Kise admitted. "I was enjoying the show too much to notice. Huh... That was actually the night he told me he loved me." Kise said, his smile wistful.

Kuroko-san looked at Kagami-san knowingly. "Say, Kise-san, do you have any children?"

"Yes, two precious sons; Shintaro and Atsushi. They're both teenagers now, but me and Daiki have had them since they were toddlers."

"I'm sure they must be very handsome children, Kise-san." Kagami-san got up, Kuroko-san following. "I'm afraid we must be going now, though, Kise-san. We have a visit with our daughter and out grandchildren."

"Of course, Kuroko-san, Kagami-san." Kise said. "I hope to see you again."

"If you go to the Seirin Performing Arts Centre, you'll see us there. We're one of the coaches working there when we're not busy." Kagami-san said. "Bye, Kise-san."

"Goodbye, Kise-san."

"See you another time, Kagami-san, Kuroko-san."

xXx

"Papa! You're home! Where did you go? Did you get my new lucky item for tomorrow?"

"Did you buy any snacks?"

Kise laughed as his two teenage boys hassled him like little children. Lifting up his shopping bag, he pulled out a green stuffed frog plushie and gave it to his older son, before handing the rest of the bag to his growing younger son.

"Thanks papa!" The two teens chimed.

Kise looked at his two children curiously; they were a bit too happy and chipper for a school afternoon. They usually came home either sulking because they had homework and therefore didn't have as much time to eat (Atsushi) or studious and wouldn't leave his room unless he needed to get his new lucky item from his papa or was seriously hungry (Shintaro).

Like the mother he was not, he placed his hand on his hip, looking at his two sons. "Okay boys, what's going on?"

"Nothing," Atsushi said quickly, only to be nudged by his brother. Kise knew, for a fact, that his purple-haired son (his baby; although Atsushi hated that nickname given to him by his papa) was a horrible liar.

"Atsushi, Shintaro, what's going on?" Kise repeated. He looked at the two, both who were shifting nervously in front of the kitchen door. Suddenly realising what might have happened, he gave a disapproving glance at the two boys. "Don't tell me you two made a mess in the kitchen. Honestly, if you did, just tell me; don't hide it." Kise walked towards the kitchen, intending to clean the mess with the help of his two sons, who were both protesting loudly, not to go into the kitchen.

"Wait papa!"

"Papa!"

"Boys, the mess can't be that bad that I can't go into... the... kitchen..."

Kise froze at what he saw. Or rather, _who_ he saw.

The boys entered behind him, sheepish grins in place. "It was supposed to be a surprise," Shintaro said.

"Well, Taro-chan, squirt, looks like your papa's about to pass out now because of your surprise."

Kise barely heard the words spoken around him as he fell into the embrace of warm, safe arms.

"It's been a while, Ryouta."

"D-daiki? It's really you..."

Aomine's tearful smile lit up the room, as he held a sobbing Kise in his arms.

He made it. Kept his promise.

_He was finally home._


End file.
